


Starlight

by inkyemaline



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst, Awesome Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Childhood Memories, Developing Friendships, Everyone Needs A Hug, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kairi & Lea (Kingdom Hearts) Friendship, Kairi (Kingdom Hearts)-centric, Kingdom Hearts III Speculation, Male-Female Friendship, Minor Isa/Lea (Kingdom Hearts), Not A Fix-It, Organization XIII (Kingdom Hearts), Post-Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance, Pre-Kingdom Hearts III, Sad with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2019-07-30 00:20:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16275338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkyemaline/pseuds/inkyemaline
Summary: "Man, you should have seen us when we were kids."Kairi finds Lea reminiscing on his friendship with Isa. Post-Dream Drop Distance.





	Starlight

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, nor do I own Richard Walters’ "Starlight."
> 
> This is NOT a song-fic. One of the lines, and the overall mood of the story, is based on the song mentioned in the disclaimer. If you want, listen while you read, although it is not required to understand the story whatsoever. Anyway, upon watching the newest trailers for Kingdom Hearts 3, I fell in love with the idea of Lea and Kairi's friendship, and also realized how much I hate the idea of Lea crying. This story contains both.

It is common to find Lea sitting on a ledge somewhere during lulls in the day – breaks from training, the short period following meals where everyone prepared for their next task – but it is absolutely improbable to find him anywhere else once the sun began to set. This is understandable, considering that the Mysterious Tower boasted an extraordinary view above the cloud cover. An endless expanse of color displayed themselves at all times, from the blushing pink that accompanied sunrise to the black and blue murkiness of the night illuminated by starlight. The newer residents of Yen Sid’s world habitually watch the sunrise, dazzled by the dawning of a new day, but Lea remains partial to the sunset.

Lea is often the quickest to complete his daily missions and assignments, crediting his efficiency to years adhering to the Organization’s tight schedule. While he has never vocally confirmed his whereabouts after training, The Mysterious Tower is a relatively small location to house a growing team of Keyblade wielders, so the others quickly note his work ethic, as well as his regular absences.

Riku often scolds him for rushing through everything, but even with his new role as Keyblade Master, the sentiment can only be half-hearted. Having witnessed a small part of Axel’s life within Organization XIII, arguably the gravest events within it, he suspects where Lea’s mind wonders off to throughout the day. If Riku needed further confirmation, the pained look in Lea’s eyes whenever they happen upon Sora speaks volumes. Riku is not one to pry, however, and considering his undeniable role in Roxas’s demise, decides it would be best to avoid the subject.

Sora, on the other hand, does not believe in avoiding an issue for the sake of comfort. He is adamant about his conviction that Roxas is his own person and quick to cite this claim to anyone who doubts it. Worried glances have long since replaced verbal expressions of doubt whenever Sora tries to encourage Lea with the promise of Roxas’s return, though the question remains. Was it even possible for Roxas to exist - for Sora to release his heart somehow - without harming the Keyblade wielder and those connected to him? This worry has yet to affect Sora, however, even as his persistence leads to Lea avoiding him on more than one occasion.

This leaves Kairi, who spends more of her time in Lea’s proximity than the others do. Hesitant as she was originally to befriend Lea – his Nobody had kidnapped her, for goodness’s sake – the knowledge that they were more or less equally new Keyblade wielders training to fight an impossible battle has created a mutual respect between the two. This bond becomes increasingly evident during their daily sparring matches, where the two pair together to verse whatever challenges Yen Sid and Mickey deem fit for them. Kairi has grown fond of Lea’s snarky yet well-meant commentary throughout their training, the grin he shoots her way whenever she says something encouraging or does something correctly for the first time. She reciprocates these friendly gestures automatically, never failing to be genuine. While they might never grow as close as she is to Sora and Riku, Kairi can now comfortably consider Lea a friend.

On top of this, being a Princess of Heart grants Kairi a certain level of empathy. She can _feel_ the sorrow emanating from Lea whenever he speaks to Sora, understands that Axel being reborn as Lea means his heart needs to process and mourn events from his previous life. Silently, she doubts that any number of lifetimes will heal the wound from losing Roxas; but could he be mourning something, or someone, else from the past? What else had his time in the Organization stolen from him, besides his heart and closest friend?

That said it is only natural that she worries about him.

Kairi ponders this information for several weeks. She is used to standing in the background, though not always willingly, watching Sora and Riku solve problems seemingly without effort (even though she knows better). This time, though, even their combined efforts are failing to get through to Lea. She is more than willing to help, would step in to fight Heartless or Nobodies without hesitation nowadays, but _this_ is somehow more personal than defending her friends from physical danger. _This_ is somebody else’s past, which she has only recently become involved in, and uncharted territory in her and Lea’s newfound relationship with each other.

Still, Lea is her friend, and Kairi is nothing if not brave when it comes to her friends. Therefore, when he passes by her room one night, a flash of red in her doorway and footsteps echoing softly off the walls of the Mysterious Tower, she takes the chance to speak to him away from the others.

Slipping out of bed and toeing on her boots, Kairi listens carefully for the telltale sound of Lea’s progress down the stairs. The Mysterious Tower comprises of spiral staircases and not much hallway, so rooms attach directly beside the stairwell with the occasional archway marking the next story of the building. Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey occupy the hallway directly above them, whereas Sora and Riku sleep in a room directly across from Kairi. She often keeps her door cracked to remind herself they are actually _here_. Lea sleeps within their hall, as well, in a separate room.

The distant creaking of a door sounds just as Kairi makes it to out of her bedroom. The doors here are exceptionally heavy; Sora once joked about them being extra security, which earned him a snort from Riku and an eye roll from Donald. Thankfully, the other inhabitants of the tower are heavy sleepers, the exception being Yen Sid, who sleeps at the highest point of the tower and cannot _possibly_ hear her sneaking through the halls. She assumes he sleeps, anyways.

Kairi titters down the staircase in silence, closely listening for footsteps or any indication that Lea is close by. She begins to worry that he might have jumped worlds, something not absolutely forbidden, but strictly monitored by the senior inhabitants of the tower. Once she makes it to the front entrance, noting that the door remained slightly ajar as though Lea is concerned about making too much noise or not getting back inside, Kairi steels herself and steps into the cool night air.

Then, in a combination of awe and shock, she freezes.

The sky is alight with streaks of color, tendrils of green and blue melting together along the distant skyline. Dusted across the aurora are thousands of glittering stars, brighter than she has ever seen them. For a moment, an image of Destiny Islands comes to mind, glowing with the reds and pinks of late sunset. For the longest time, Kairi believed nothing could compare to her home world’s sky. Even with her newfound travels to other worlds, the beauty of Destiny Islands had seemed to overshadow them, never meeting its match; she doubts that, now.

“There’s nothing like it, huh?”

The familiar voice breaks Kairi’s trance, and she spins around to find Lea standing a few feet away. He is gazing upwards as she had been, although he looks oddly solemn. Even with his head tilted upwards, Lea’s shoulders slump, an unusual posture for the tall man. His mouth is set into a thin line of discomfort, and he glances across the skyline as though searching for something. Her own expression had probably mirrored a jaw dropping to the floor in amazement, but Lea’s expression seems just…sad.

“It’s incredible,” Kairi answers truthfully, stepping towards him across the grass “How did you know this would be out here?”

He smirks at her, tapping the side of his head.  “Heh, I’m full of information. Got it memorized?”

Kairi giggles, genuinely amused by his antics. Suddenly, she hooks her arm through his, pulling him towards a space at the world’s edge where the tree line cleared out. Lea grunts in protest at first, but eventually gives in at Kairi’s insistence and sits with her along the world’s edge.

 “Really, though,” she continues, once the two have settled on the ground. “How did you know about this? Even Yen Sid never mentioned it.”

The smirk returns, although this time it appears strained. “A friend of mine from before was fascinated with this kind of stuff. Constellations, auroras – anything to do with space, really. He dragged me to see quite a few lunar exhibits back in the day.”

_Before what?_ Kairi wonders, but thinks she knows the answer without having to ask. _Before the Organization. Before Xehanort_.

“Who was your friend?” she asks instead, hoping to steer the conversation away from darker topics. The flash of pain in Lea’s eyes is unmistakable, though, but Kairi does not have time to recant the question.

“Isa.” He speaks the name with a solemn, wishful reverence; the significance is almost lost on Kairi. Almost.

“Wait, you mean…”

“Yeah, Saïx,” Lea sighs. He speaks _that_ name with disdain. Seeing her guarded expression, though, he quickly jumps to the defensive. “He wasn’t always like that, though. Saïx is a jerk, but Isa never acted like that.”

“Okay,” Kairi concedes, unconvinced but not wanting to argue with him. Axel may have been her kidnapper, but Saïx was her _jailer_. She knew the man for his cruelty, and even if Lea claims to know him outside of that, Kairi cannot shake the fear that Saïx’s name brings back to her.

Lea fails to notice her confliction, or at least pretends not to. He is gazing longingly at the sky again. The aurora matches his strikingly green irises, Kairi notes. She tells herself that the brightness above, rather than the memory of Isa, is responsible for their watery appearance.

_He’s out here in honor of him,_ Kairi realizes, and swallows her personal opinions of Saïx for the time being. Who was she to judge a man she had only known but for a moment, already in Xehanort’s grasp?

Eventually, Lea breaks the silence. “Man, you should have seen us when we were kids.” He glances over, sighing at Kairi’s nod that indicates he should continue. “Isa and I were inseparable. Anything we did, it was together: homework, vacations, troublemaking – the troublemaking was usually my idea,” he confides. Kairi hums in amusement. “He always followed along, though, even if it was just to brag that he’d told me so later on.”

Lea’s sudden bark of laughter startles Kairi. “He told me so a lot, too. Anytime I did something that would warrant scolding from my parents, he beat them to it.”

“Reminds me of Riku and Sora,” Kairi muses.

“Sora and Riku probably didn’t have tendencies towards arson and trespassing,” Lea deadpans.

“Lea, no!”

“Relax, those were the worst,” he chuckles, and the sound quells some of the tension from earlier. “We never stole anything while trespassing, and the only damage caused by the fires were in my garage.”

“I can’t believe you were such a delinquent, even back then,” Kairi giggles.

“Hey!” Lea feigns offense. “We were just a couple of teenagers having fun. Not everyone has to save the world at that age like you do.”

“Even when we aren’t saving the world, my friends and I behave,” Kairi quips.

“Fair enough,” Lea shrugs. “Once this is all over, you’ll have to visit Radiant Garden with me- oh, I mean Hollow Bastion.” He exhales loudly. “It stinks how much things change.”

Kairi thinks he is referring to more than just his homeworld.

“Some things will return to normal,” Kairi offers gently. “Whatever we can do to make that happen, we will.”

Lea does not respond. The solemn air returns, reminding the two redheads of everything that has been lost in the past ten years. Kairi had lost her memories, her friends, and her home; all of those returned to her, though. She cannot say the same for Lea. His home is still in restoration, his heart is still in mourning, and his two best friends are no longer a part of his life.

For a moment, she feels like crying for him.

 “I wonder if he can see this, wherever he is,” Lea speaks softly, breaking her from her thoughts.

A moment of contemplation, along with a few discrete sniffles, passes before Kairi realizes the best advice she could possibly give him. “All worlds share the same sky,” she responds, reciting part of the letter she had written to Sora not so long ago. It seemed as though the pair might never reunite, yet he had returned as promised, in those seconds of embrace the same boy she knew from childhood. Deep down, she believes that Isa will someday do the same. Perhaps even Roxas will, too. She turns to meet Lea’s gaze with a smile, tapping the side of her head. “One sky, one destiny. Got it memorized?”

The corners of his lips tilt upwards, but Lea fails to blink enough in succession to stop the tears from rolling down his face. He hastily turns away, and Kairi fixes her gaze upward as he attempts to pull himself together. Lea is prideful, she knows, and probably wishes for no one to witness him grieve; she wants to respect that.

Kairi might have regretted her influence on this moment, if he were to ask her to leave. Now, though, she is secretly thrilled Lea has opened up to her this much.

After a few moment, he clears his throat to indicate that he is okay and nods towards Kairi in thanks, wiping his eyes with the back of one gloved hand. Kairi smiles brightly in return and both redheads return their gaze to the starlight above.

_Isa, wherever you are, don’t worry. We’re coming for you._

**Author's Note:**

> Give Isa a redemption arc, Nomura. 
> 
> Also, can you tell how terribly cheesy I am with dialogue? I really enjoyed writing Kairi, especially detailing her character at the beginning, which is something I did not expect given how little of her we really see compared to the other characters in the Kingdom Hearts games. I'm very excited for her character development in KH3!
> 
> Until next time!


End file.
